


Let It Snow

by percyyoulittleshit



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Modern Royalty, Winter Wonderland
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 11:13:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13145487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/percyyoulittleshit/pseuds/percyyoulittleshit
Summary: In all honesty, they should have had never met, she was a Swedish Princess and he was an American bastard with Greek royal blood but then at the same time, their royal blood is what brought them together in their childhood. And now, years later, they were best friends who were strictly platonic but, being snowed in during a storm could be able to change that?





	Let It Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays guys! No matter what you were up to, I hope you are having or had an amazing day (if it's already the 26 in your timezone) I’m so excited to share this holiday fic with you! I haven’t been able to write in so long and since I love this season, I’m so happy to be able to share a little cheer with you guys! I recommend listening to Taeyeon’s “Let It Snow” and “Candy Cane”, actually I recommend listening to her whole album 'This Christmas' to get into the holiday mood. Spotify knows I listening non-stop while writing this. 
> 
> For Vianca and Eleonora. Feliz Navidad and Buon Natale for you guys
> 
> Inspired by a tumblr prompt: “we’re strictly ‘platonic’ but we’re snowed in omg we’re gonna have to repopulate the earth”

_Filled with memories for two of us, with your love_  
_Let’s create a very special day_  
_Let’s leave together, winter wonderland_  
_This world that has transformed to white_  
_So it can be forever, feel your love_  
_If your heart is same as mine_  
_Come on let it show_  
_Let it snow, you gotta_  
_Let it snow_

  
  
It was a known secret that if you weren’t the future king or queen of your country, the people of your country didn’t really care about you, no matter what title you had, when it was royalty related they only cared about three things: Who was gonna be the next one to rule them? What drama surrounded the future king or queen and their siblings if they had any and, lastly, who was gonna be the royal mess with all the headlines embarrassing the family. In an attempt to avoid the last point, most parents ended up sending their kids to prestigious boarding schools, ones that were usually in a different country, better safe than sorry.    

Princess Annabeth of Sweden ended up in the same boarding school,  _Le Rosey,_ as Percy Jackson. Their school was big but the student population was less than fifty kids per grade and she, like most of the students, had ignored the awkward eleven-year-old trying to fit into his new life. In theory, he was  _Prince_ Perseus of Greece but the reality was more complex than that. Percy was not only born out of wedlock but was also born in New York, United States, without knowing who his father was or his relationship with the crown. ‘The Greek Bastard’ was how most people referred to him back at school and as much as she regretted it now, back then Annabeth wasn’t kind to him either. Thankfully things changed between them and by the start of the next year, they were best friends and, by the time Annabeth started studying architecture in Cambridge she wasn’t sure what she would do without Percy in her life. The lifestyle she had was a hard one without someone to rely on and he was her rock, he understood what she was going through because he was in a similar situation, she could rant to him for hours and vice versa.

Annabeth had been luckier than him, she was fifth in line to the throne, so her chances of being a queen were slim (she honestly didn’t want to rule a country) and since her cousin Emma was the Crown Princess of Sweden, the public didn’t pay much attention to her, Emma and Aubrey Chase were the only princesses the Swedish people cared about. Her cousin Magnus, being the only young Prince wasn’t as lucky as her. She could get a life outside her title of Princess, but while Percy had a title and was technically the third in line for the Greek throne...he knew he would never sit on the throne, the Greek people wouldn’t support his claim, plus there was a rule about greek nationality and while Percy kind of had it, he was and will always be an  _American_. Percy was often slammed by the newspaper, he had been the easiest target of the royal family, born out of wedlock and raised by a single mother in a tiny Manhattan apartment, it had been just too easy for the press to pick him apart. He had once confessed to her how glad he was that he was the spitting image of his father, at least that way his mother wouldn’t be called a _gold digger whore_. The press has given him a reputation of _bad boy_ (Annabeth had laughed so hard when she saw that headline). Annabeth was one of the few people who knew the real Percy, the kind, loyal insecure man with a heart of gold.

It’s not like she didn’t have any more friends besides him, she did. She met her other best friend, Piper McLean, in Cambridge, she was the daughter of a famous American movie star and a British duchess. Hazel and Jason Olympia, Percy’s cousins, were also very close friends of hers, Hazel was the fifth in line for the Greek throne and while Jason was the second in line for the throne, it was widely known that he would be the next ruler since his older sister has been more than vocal about abdicating when their father ended his reign. Frank Zhang, the son of Emily Zhang, who had been the current Prime Minister of Canada for the last 10 years, and Leo Valdez, the son of the current consul of the Mexican embassy in the United States, were also good friends of hers; and lastly but the most important was Grover Underwood, Percy’s old roommate in Le Rosey. Grover, Percy and her had been inseparable during their school days but as they grew older Percy and Annabeth grew closer, not that Grover wasn’t important anymore, he was and not only him, the seven of them were her closest friends, the ones she trusted with all her heart and knew had her back no matter what. The eight of them were currently in Åre, Sweden staying at her family’s holiday house (her family always referred it to as the cottage but it was still a royal house and if you went by the definition it was not what a cottage was supposed to be: small) celebrating the holidays even if it was the first days of December since they weren’t able to spend them together.

“The worst thing about getting used to the weather of Greece is the cold harsh winter of the north,” Percy said sitting in front of the fireplace, trying to get some warmth back in his body. 

Annabeth laughed at him. “You are a new yorker and have spent winters in Switzerland, don’t be such a crybaby you are used to the cold.” She was in the kitchen making them hot chocolate, the rest of their friends were still at the ski resort but Annabeth had taken a nasty fall, hurting her ankle in the process, and she had called it a day, and Percy being the best friend that he was, went with her back to the cottage.

“I have spent the last few months in Athens, I was out of my element.” Percy stood up and went to the kitchen. “I would also like to point out that Sweden is  _waaaay_  further north than Manhattan or Rolle, so, harsher winters.” He then grabbed the marshmallow bag and started pouring them into his hot chocolate. 

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him. “It’s not even winter yet and stop with the marshmallows! You are gonna drown them.”

“First of all, it’s December, so pretty much winter.” Percy widened his eyes before taking a sip from his mug. “And second, if they are gonna drown then they are gonna die happy, also you should be resting, I’m gonna get you some painkillers.”

“It’s okay, the pain is not that bad now, it’s not like I’m limping.” She wasn’t lying, the pain wasn’t that bad, she could walk without much trouble.

Annabeth took her own mug (marshmallow-less) and went to sit by the fire. Percy just shook his head and follow her.“You took a nasty fall and your ankle is swollen, you are probably not feeling it because the cold makes you not feel it.”  

Annabeth snorted. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Of course it does! Extend your leg on the couch, I’m gonna bring you pillows and some medicine.” She whined about how it wasn’t necessary but he wouldn’t stop bothering and making a show of it, she finally stretched her leg making him nod happily and he left the room in look for her medicines.

Annabeth looked at his retreating back and sighed, things would be so much easier for her if he wasn’t so nice but every gesture only made her fall more and more in love with him. She knew it was a cliche, she had seen countless movies and read many books about best friends falling in love.It’s not like she had always been in love with him, they both dated different people in their teenage years, well, she dated one person and he had only two serious relationships (as serious as a teenager can get) and a few flings during college, but unfortunately for her college was when she realized she had fallen for him...hard. Her love realization had been extra hard, she had been in her first year of University in Cambridge while he was off in New York going to Columbia and dating the heiress of the Dare Empire (according to him they only dated for a few months, breaking up shortly after realizing they worked better as friends than a couple). Being in love with her best friend was difficult, mostly because she knew his feelings for her were completely platonic and while it hurt Annabeth being with him, it was nothing to the pain she would be feeling if she had pushed him out of her life. She wanted to savor every touch from him, and Percy wasn’t shy with his touches with her, as long as they had been friends, personal space was not a thing between them (something that usually cost them a front cover in a newspaper at least once a year, claiming how the young royals were secretly dating) and more often than not he hugged her or linked their arms or held her hand. He had sneaked into her heart without her realizing and instead of getting over him he had been making her fall harder every day for the past five years. The fact that he was insanely handsome was just a bonus; if Annabeth had a penny for how many times the tabloids had compared the Greek prince to a Greek god...well she wouldn’t be as rich as she was now but the thought still counted.

“Ibuprofen, pillows and a blanket, what else does her majesty need?” Percy said after coming back to the living room. Annabeth just stuck her tongue out at him, making him shake his head, with gentle hands he took her hurt leg and raised it slowly so he could put the pillows under it.

“Thank you,” Annabeth said after he covered her lap with a cozy blanket. “I guess it’s a good thing to keep you around.”

“Excuse you, it’s a fucking honor to have me around.”

“If you say so.” Percy glared at her but it only made her laugh. “Hey, it’s getting dark too fast, what time is it?”

Annabeth looked at her phone. “Midday, we should have at least two more hours of su-” she was interrupted by her phone beeping announcing that she had messages. It was from their friends' group chat. “Oh, there is a storm warning.”  She looked towards the window, the snow was falling fast and heavy outside.

“They are gonna stay in the resort until they have the clear to come back,” Percy finished reading for her. “Damn, I hope they get a room or something.”

Percy was frowning at his phone and Annabeth could understand why, while they weren’t as well known as other royals -the British crown took the title for most famous royals ever- it was still a little nerve-wracking knowing Jason and Hazel were out there without much security. “They are gonna be fine, don’t worry, they know how to go low-key and not attract attention, let’s be thankful we aren’t with Harry, that would have ended up badly.”

He gave her a grateful smile before texting a quick message to their friends letting them know they were safe in the cottage and keep them updated on the situation. “Well, at least we had food for a while and it seems we are gonna stuck here for who knows how long.” Percy glanced at the fireplace. “I’m gonna bring more wood in before it gets too bad outside.”

“I’m gonna help you.”

Percy shook his head. “Nope, ankle remember? Don’t worry I’ll be quick.”

Annabeth looked at the window, the snow was falling with more intensity but it was still not that bad. “Just be safe”

He nodded before leaving the cottage, it didn’t take long for him to come back with a respectable amount of logs but still Annabeth was worried the few minutes he was outside, mostly because he his horrible luck ‘ _You have a resting bitch face and terrible luck and that’s it, you’re branded a bad boy_.’ Percy had told her after the first headline that started the trend of treating him like a bad boy.

Percy came back shaking the snow out of his hair. “Well we have enough for a day or two, let’s hope we don’t have to get stuck here longer.” He sat down in the armchair in front of her. “Also it’s cold as fuck outside.”

“I bet.” Annabeth chuckled. “Well we have a tv and my dad’s old DVD collection, he has a weak spot for romantic movies though, so be prepared.”

“I would say there is also  Jenga but playing  against you is just suicide.” Annabeth was banned from playing it with friends, they said it wasn’t fair to play against an architect, she had tried to complain about how Leo was a crazy inventor and he should also be banned but Leo made the  wobbly tower drop while she was speaking so unlike her, he was still allowed to play Jenga.

“Well, this is going to be fun...also, I’m hungry.”

Between helping Percy cook -more like tease him while he threw uncooked pasta at her telling her to shut up and to get out of his kitchen before she set their food on fire-, talking while paying no attention to movie on the background, goofing around with Percy and reading a novel while Percy fixed them a quick dinner, Annabeth was surprised how fast the day went by. From all the people she could have gotten stuck within in the middle of a storm, without internet or phone reception, she was glad it had been with her best friend. Hanging with Percy was usually one of her favorite things to do, she didn’t have to worry about etiquette or offending the wrong person and creating tension between two countries (in her defense she had been seven years old and that duchess totally deserved it.)

“I think I’m gonna call it a night.” He tried to suppress a yawn, “I’m falling asleep.”

Annabeth looked at the clock and was surprised to see it was already ten pm, they were in the living room, him watching an 80’s movie he’d found in her dad’s collection and her reading a novel. She was tired but not that tired, her body was aching again, probably from the fall she had while skiing that morning. “I think I’m gonna take a bath before going to bed.”

Percy stood up and stretched giving Annabeth a lovely view of his toned body making her blush, she was glad her cheeks were already red from the heat of the fire. “Well then, hope you have a good night, wake me up if something happens.”

She raised an eyebrow. “If something happens?”

“We are in the middle of a storm, you get it.” She laughed at him but he only leaned in and gave her a kiss on her cheek. “Night, Annabeth.”

She was sure her face was burning. “Goodnight, Perce.” It wasn’t the first time he kissed her cheek, after all, it was part of the royal etiquette, but it was something about the way he kissed her. Piper had mentioned it once, how while most people just crashed cheeks and called it a kiss Percy actually kissed her cheek, no matter what his lips always ended up on her skin. ‘ _He only does that with you, you know?_ ’ Annabeth had replied with something to change the subject, but she had started to study him and Piper was right, she was the only one he actively kissed, if her heart melted into a puddle at the realization, she would have never said.

She made sure all the doors and windows were properly locked and after making sure the fire was out she went back to her room for her bath. The cottage/lodge belonged to her father, so while everyone else was sharing rooms (Hazel with Piper, Percy and Grover in another room and lastly Leo, Jason and Frank in the biggest guest room), she was staying in her own room with her private bathroom and she really was glad that the power hadn’t gone out, she really wanted her hot bath and a warm room to sleep in.

Unfortunately for her, the next day didn’t go as quickly, their phones still didn’t have any reception so there was no way to know how their friends were holding up at the resort and the snow was still heavy outside. She and Percy spent the morning doing chores around the cottage, they were supposed to go back to their homes the next day so they decided to kill time trying to tidy the place so their friends only had to pack their clothes and would be able to leave fast -if the storm allowed them to go back-. She didn’t want to think how... _domestic_  it all felt, it was never just two of them alone with anyone near them, there was usually a bodyguard or security or friends, never just the two of them and it just felt different, good different.

Cooking, cleaning and eating together, it was like if she and Percy were playing house. She had thought about Percy and her living together as a couple before (she had been in love with him for over five years, of course, the idea had crossed her mind more than once) she knew they were supposed to be platonic but it if she was being honest, it just didn’t feel like that, it was like if someone had turned on a switch between them, their touches were more frequent, it felt like if Percy was looking for excuses to touch her arm or her hair and she was doing the same, asking for hugs with the pretence of being cold, she was lying and he knew it, the fireplace was warming the living room and the heaters were making sure the rest of the house was warm, but he still hugged her, hugs that lasted way longer than they should.  

“I wish you could spend Christmas with me.” It was late in the afternoon and they were in the living room finally getting the rest they needed after tidying up, they were sharing a blanket and cuddling on the couch trying to get warm. Outside, the storm was still on, the strong winds crashing against the walls making the windows shake. They had just finished watching the second cheesy movie in a row (they didn’t have popcorns but Percy thought candy canes were a good substitute) and Percy had begged to stop watching before he went insane.

Annabeth sighed. “Christmas in New York, that would lovely.” Percy spent the holidays with his mom and her family every two years, he stopped following the royal rules when he finally accepted no matter what he did everyone except his cousins and father would not really accept him into the family, he was popular with the Greek people but it was not good when the ones in charge didn’t really want you.

Percy chuckled. “It’s nothing like in the movies, seriously, it’s nothing magical but it’s a nice break from all the formality and tense atmosphere when I have to be in the same room as my uncle. Being with my mom, Paul and Tellie...it’s so much simpler and I feel so free, like I can finally be myself, just how I feel when I’m with you.”

She smiled, his words making her warm and happy in a way the fire would never be able to do. “I would like that. I can try and see if I can sneak out, maybe ask Magnus for help.”

“Well then let me know if I should save you a place for our Christmas dinner.”

“Will do.”

The stayed in silence for a while, she liked moments like that, when the two of them could be surrounded by silence and it would feel peaceful, their company being everything they needed.

“Annabeth?” He whispered after a while and she raised her head to face him but his face was closer than she had anticipated and their lips were only inches apart.

“Percy,” she whispered back and she could feel his gaze on her lips, they leaned closer and before she could register what was happening her lips were against his. It was a shy kiss, lips moving slowly and hesitant, she moved her hands so they would be resting on his shoulder and his hand slowly went to her waist, barely touching her, for the first time in years Percy was shy touching her and that only made Annabeth want him more, she could feel him smile against her lips and when he broke the kiss he didn’t pull away much, his face was still close to hers and his touch was starting to feel firm on her hips.

“Hi,” He was smiling at her making her smile back.

“Hi.”

“Was that okay?” His cheeks were tinted red and his eyes were extra shiny and Annabeth was sure he could hear her heart beating.

“Yes.” She couldn’t help but smile, as innocent as the kiss had it been, it had been everything she had dream off and more, his lips tasted sweet, like the candy canes he had earlier.

“I have been wanting to do that for a while.” He confessed, making her heart stop, there was much she wanted to ask, to say but instead what came out from her lips was “Then why did you stop?”

It seems it was what he needed to hear because his lips were back against hers, more firm than before, his hand moved to embrace her while her arms locked around his neck pulling him as close as they could be while sitting on the couch, his tongue stroked her lower lip making her, to her complete embarrassment, moan but Percy only deepened the kiss, the intensity of the kisses started to grow and without realizing they both had ended up laying on the couch, him on top of her and their hands and lips where everywhere. Percy seemed to be fond of her neck because more often than not his lips ended up there but she couldn’t complain, it’s not like she hadn’t kissed his jaw every chance she got. She wasn’t sure how long it had been but they were both panting and moaning when her hands started to unbutton his pants.

“Are you sure about this?” He whispered against her lips, he had slowed the intensity of their kisses, trying to sober them up from their previous make-out session, his hand was under her shirt, playing with the hem of her bra. “We don’t have to do this.”

Except Annabeth wanted it, she wanted to feel his body against hers, she wanted him to make her his, she wanted to keep tasting him. She didn’t want to think what would happen in the morning the next day and even if she wanted to stop she couldn’t, her brain was yelling  _PERCY, PERCY, PERCY_  over and over, he had started a fire in her that she didn’t want to extinguish, she wanted him, she wanted him.

“I’m sure.” she stood up and offered her hand to him, Percy looked at her for a moment, trying to find something in her eyes, maybe. He accepted her hand and she guided him to her bedroom.

* * *

 

Annabeth took a deep breath, trying not to freak out about the masses of people near her, it was Christmas Eve in New York and the JFK airport knew it. She was trying not to get overwhelmed by it, she could count with one hand the number of times she had been in an airport, but all of those times security was all around her, royalty didn’t really do commercial flights and yet here she was in one of the busiest airports in the world in pretty much the busiest time of the year with only a suitcase to keep her company. Last night had been the first time in her life she was absolutely glad she was from a royal family, she was sure she wouldn’t have been able to afford a ticket to New York only 24 hours in advance otherwise but she needed to see Percy, she needed to be with him, she could still remember his voice asking her to spend the holiday with him.

 _Percy_ , just thinking about him made her giddy and made her body feel warm and light, if she closed her eyes she could still feel his touches, his lips, his body moving against her...okay she was in an airport, she needed to keep her brain PG13. She had the most wonderful night with him in the cottage in the middle of a snowstorm but the aftermath hadn’t gone as smoothly as she had imagined, not because it was awkward between them, after that night Annabeth was positive he reciprocated her feelings but because...they really didn’t have any time to talk about what that night had meant and how things were now between them.

She wanted to say she woke up in his arms and they laughed and spent the morning in bed kissing and having sex but in reality she had been woken up by the noise her friends made after getting into the cottage, during the night the storm had calmed down and by morning her friends were allowed to go back, she and Percy had woken up and panicked, the last thing they wanted was for their friends to find them together in bed naked, between half yelling-half whispering Percy left for his room to get changed into his pj’s and by the time Annabeth had gone downstairs, he was already there, listening to Leo talk about their adventures. After that it had been pretty much running around without a break, between packing and getting a private jet to take them back to Stockholm where here driver was waiting for her to take her back to the palace while the rest of her friends took their own privates jet (except Leo and Piper, they still flew commercial, well first class commercial) back to their countries and the with all the duties she had to complete as a Princess -December was an insanely busy month- she and Percy didn’t really have any time to talk alone. They had managed to facetime one night but both felt the conversation was too important and it deserved to be talked about face to face and he agreed to visit her after his trip to New York. The call made her feel like a shy giddy teenager whose crush was talking to her for the first time, she wanted to be embarrassed for acting that way but Percy hadn’t been any better than her, his texts made her feel the same even if they were about random things. Annabeth was crazy about him and he was crazy about her, she knew it, she could feel it.  

They had agreed to wait but Annabeth had a hard time waiting, his words were always in her mind and before she could lose the courage, she (with the help of Magnus) booked a flight to see him. She didn’t even tell him, part wanting it to be a surprise, partly because she wasn’t sure if she was gonna go through with it. It was crazy, it was a completely bad idea and yet her heart had been bursting with excitement while boarding the plane. Her hair had been straightened and she was wearing an NYC cap and glasses, her dad had been very vocal about it, mostly for her to blend in with the crowd in the Stockholm airport, the curls were always associated with her, she honestly didn’t understand the magazines’ obsession with her curls, maybe because they never saw how she looked without the help of a stylist, but she knew it would be harder to recognize her with her hair straightened. By the time she had her layover in London she realized how much of a bad idea it had been, not because people recognized her (almost nobody outside Sweden cared about her, also everyone was talking about Harry and Meghan) but because her hair was a mess, a curly frizzy mess, in a last attempt to look half decent when seeing Percy she ended up braiding her hair on her flight to NYC from London.

And now she was in NYC without a plan or a way to get to Percy, half regretting following her heart, she walked around trying to find a taxi that would take her to his place when she heard someone yelling at her.

“Magnus’ cousin from Sweden! The tall blonde one, you! Yeah! You! Here!” Annabeth looked around until she saw two men a few meters away, the one yelling her name was a short man with dark skin, looking absolutely flawless in a suit, next to him was a man holding a sign that said  _Magnus’ cousin_ , he was tall probably taller than her with blond -almost white- hair and pale skin, he was all dressed up in black except for a candy cane colored scarf he was wearing. Annabeth blinked at them, trying to figure out why they looked so familiar and they took it as a cue to walk towards her.

“You Chases all look alike.” The shorter man said, “I’m Blitz and this is Hearth, we are Magnus’ friends.” He signed at the same time he talked and Annabeth finally put them together. Blitzen was Magnus’ designer, Annabeth had only seen him occasionally but she had never talked to him and while she had never seen Hearthstone, she had heard about him. She noticed both men had matching rings on their left hands. “Sorry for not using your name but it’s quite uncommon and we didn’t want to draw unwanted attention towards you."

“Yes! Right! Hi! Thank you.” Annabeth looked at Hearthstone. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know ASL.”

Hearth shrugged and gave her the universal sign of  _okay_.

“As long as you are facing him while you talk it’s fine,” Blitz said/signed. “Magnus asked us to help you get to your friend’s house.”

“Oh god, yes.” Annabeth looked around. “I’m a little out of my element here.”

Blitz and Hearth chuckled at her. “We can tell, where are we off too?”

“Upper east side,” Annabeth said. “I have his address on my phone.”

Blitz nodded “Well then, we’ll take it from here, we are gonna take the subway if we take a taxi you are gonna see your boy in a few hours.”

“ _My boy_!?” She looked at Hearth who only winked at her.

“Magnus has been updating us about your love, he gets very talkative after a few glasses of mead, he has been rooting for you two for a few years now.” Even if he wasn’t facing her, she could hear the laugh in his voice.

“Of course he fucking did.” Annabeth murmured, Blitz, chuckled and signed to Hearth what she had said.

They didn’t talk much after that, Blitzen and Hearthstone walking on either side of her, trying not to lose her in the sea of crowds walking in the same direction as them to the AirTrain. To say New York was busy was an understatement, once they were finally on their way to the Jamaica station, ‘Our first stop’ Blitzen had said, Annabeth had started to feel guilty about Blitzen and Hearthstone having to act as her bodyguards, it was Christmas Eve and instead of spending time with their families they were stuck with her on a busy commute.

“ _It’s okay, you are Magnus’ family and he is our family._ ” Hearth had signed and Blitz had translated to her after she had told them how sorry she was that they had to cancel their plans. “ _So by extension, you are family too_.”

“It’s not a problem really, it’s only the two of us right now,” Blitz told her. “The rest of our friends are in Boston and we’re stuck here for work-related stuff and like Hearth said, you are Magnus’ favorite cousin, so you are our favorite cousin too.”

Annabeth smiled at them and spent the rest of the journey in silence, trying to get her thoughts together while Blitz and Heart talked next to her. Annabeth wasn’t sure how Magnus had ended up being friends with them but she knew how fond he was of his friends, he had been the best man at their wedding, she remembered it now, they seemed like wonderful people and Annabeth made a mental note to talk more with them when they visited the palace.

She parted ways with them on the 86 Street station, she hugged them goodbye and thanked them for their help and told Blitzen she would be the first person to contact when she needed a new gown after he jokingly said to call him if she was looking for a dress.

With every step she took towards Percy’s place, the more nervous she felt, her mind started to imagine all the scenarios where everything went terribly wrong, how she had totally misread the situation, how he didn’t want to see her, maybe they weren’t there or they simply didn’t want her to spend Christmas with them. For the first time in her life she didn’t have a backup plan, she didn’t have a place to stay if everything went wrong with Percy, part of her wanted to run back to Blitzen and Hearthstone but no, she remembered the afternoon in Åre, his body next to her whispering how he wanted to spend the holidays with her and the nerves calmed down...a little bit.

By the time she found his building snow had started to fall, New York was gonna get a white Christmas that year. His parent’s apartment was on the fifth floor and the building didn’t have an elevator, by the time she reached his door she was a panting mess, she could barely move with her coat and bringing the suitcase with her on the stairs had been a struggle. Annabeth wasn’t vain and unless the occasion needed it, she usually didn’t care about her appearance but when she pictured her reunion with Percy, she didn’t think it would be after she had been stuck in planes and airports for over 15 hours and had spent around 2 hours in a full subway car. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were a mess, she was a mess.

She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell and waited and waited and nothing happened, by the third ring she was starting to freak out, maybe she had gotten the wrong apartment, maybe they weren’t home but then she heard a familiar voice yelling ‘Coming!’ and before she could react the door was open and Percy Jackson was standing in front of her with a half-eaten cookie in his hands.

He stared at her and she didn’t say anything, for a few seconds none of them did anything and then slowly. “... _Annabeth_?”

“Hi.”

“You are here?” He said slowly. “In New York?”

“I’m here, in New York.” She hoped he couldn't hear the tremble in her voice, he looked even better than the last time she’d seen him. While Percy usually took her breath away when he was all dressed up in suits or his royal uniform, she found him the handsomest when he was wearing casual clothing, as exceptionally good looking as he was while wearing formal clothes (tabloids liked to use ‘worthy of the gods’ to describe his appearance) he usually was always stiff and on the edge but when it was just him with casual clothes and no obligations his posture was more relaxed, he was more easy going, his eyes were brighter, smiles came easier to his face. And right now, wearing an ugly Christmas sweater, old ripped jeans, and messy hair, well, he was making her heart work overtime.   

“How did you even get here?”

"Blitzen and Hearthstone brought me here."

Percy blinked at her. "A reindeer brought you here?"

“Wha-? No, they are Magnus’ friends.” Annabeth said and he nodded. They stood in silence for a while and Annabeth started to squirm under his gaze.

He stretched his cookie free arm and rested his hand on her cheek. “You are actually here.” He said and his face broke into a grin. “You are here, on Christmas Eve.”

“I couldn’t wait until the next year, I needed to see you, I- I missed you terribly.” She leaned into his touch. “I hope it’s okay I came here unannounced.”

“You hope it- Are you kidding?” He laughed. “This is more than okay, this absolutely fucking perfect.”

They stood on the doorframe smiling at each other, his hand still cupping her cheek. “Can I come in? It’s kind of cold outside.” Annabeth finally said.

“Oh shit, right of course.” His hand left her cheek and he started to fumble around, dropping his cookie in the process, he finally ended up taking the suitcase from her hands and putting it in the hallway inside his apartment, Annabeth was about to enter when Percy stopped. “Not so fast, look up,” he said and she did, hanging from the doorframe was a single sprig of mistletoe.

“Well then.” Annabeth’s arms wrapped around his neck. “I guess we have to.”       
Percy’s arms embraced her and pulled her closer to him. “It’s tradition after all.” He leaned in and his lips met hers. Annabeth thought about what Percy had said back in the cottage and realized how wrong he had been, with his arms around her and kissing under a mistletoe Christmas in New Year  _was_  magical.

 _My excited heart, in this Christmas_  
_Let it snow, let it snow, go_  
_Let it snow, you gotta_  
_Let it snow_  
_Fall filled with sweet memories_  
_Let it snow, you gotta_  
_Let it snow_  
_This Christmas, sweet with your love_  
_Let it snow, you gotta_  
_Let it snow_  
_Fall filled with cozy memories_  
_Waited tonight for this Christmas_  
_Hurry, let it snow_


End file.
